OMG!

Not exactly a return to a middlebrow civility in the news, but then, as the story Drudge links to points out, Obama and the Democrats aren't exactly a return to middlebrow civility in politics, so it all works out:

The frustration with President Barack Obama over his tax cut compromise was palpable and even profane at Thursday’s House Democratic Caucus meeting.

One unidentified lawmaker went so far as to mutter “f— the president” while Rep. Shelley Berkley was defending the package the president negotiated with Republicans. Berkley confirmed the incident, although she declined to name the specific lawmaker.

“It wasn’t loud,” the Nevada Democrat said. “It was just expressing frustration from a very frustrated Member.”

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) was also overheard saying that “we can’t trust him” not to cave to Republicans and extend the tax cuts again in two years, according to a Democratic source.

The anger aimed at the bill was widespread. As Democrats moved to block the bill from coming up on the floor, chants of “Just say no!” could be heard by reporters outside the room.

Huh -- remember when a puritanical phrase such as Nancy Reagan's "Just say no!" was something for "liberals" to mock, rather than emulate?

Note to GOP oppo researchers: Kindly flag that last paragraph for use later on, because we all know that once Campaign 2012 starts rolling and the left decides that the GOP nominee is The New Hitler, they’ll clamor to insist that Obama really, truly, absolutely can be trusted to fight for tax hikes on the rich come 2013. In the meantime, since Drudge is fronting this story, we can expect another hundred dopey stories tomorrow about whether the left might conceivably muster a primary challenge to him after all. Answer: Nope, which was the same answer the last thousand times that question was posed, but let’s not let that deter a good news cycle. Don’t believe me? Well, check out who’s just thrown his hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination, replete with calls for a new 9/11 investigation. That’s how serious the “primary” movement is.